July 24 (Bloomberg) -- Mahmoud Reza Banki, the former
McKinsey & Co. consultant whose conviction for violating a trade
embargo with Iran was partly reversed, won’t serve any more time
in prison.

Banki, who had been confined for 22 months since his arrest
in January 2010, was sentenced to no prison and no supervised
release at a hearing today before U.S. District Judge Paul
Engelmayer in Manhattan. Banki was ordered to pay a $5,000 fine
for the remaining two counts of making false statements about
money transfers he received from Iran.

Engelmayer agreed with Banki’s request that he be sentenced
to no prison time, rather than to the time he had served.
Prosecutors and Banki’s lawyers agreed that federal sentencing
guidelines called for zero to six months.

“Throughout the 22 months of my incarceration I watched my
life go by,” Banki told Engelmayer. “Those days can never be
replaced.”

In an agreement reached with the U.S. last month,
prosecutors agreed not to retry Banki on counts of violating the
Iran trade embargo, operating an unlicensed money-transfer
business and conspiracy to commit those crimes, which were
reversed by the federal appeals court in New York.

‘Hawala’ Charge

Iran-born Banki, a naturalized U.S. citizen, was initially
sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison following a jury trial in New
York. He was accused of running a “hawala,” or informal money
transfer business, that moved money to and from Iran in
violation of the U.S. embargo.

As part of his deal with the government, he agreed to
forfeit about $710,000.

“Mr. Banki is gratified that the court has changed his
sentence from 30 months to zero, and no probation,” his lawyer,
Christine Chung, said in an e-mail after the hearing. “He will
not gain back the 22 months he spent in prison before the
appeals court spoke, but he has finally obtained a measure of
justice.”

The case is U.S. v. Banki, 10-cr-00008, U.S. District
Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).